Pablo Popovitch, the man at the center of former UFC light heavyweightThiago Silva's bizarre felony arrest, now says he believes his ex-wife to have been the chief instigator of the incident. On Feb. 6, 2014, Silva was arrested following an alleged confrontation involving his own estranged spouse Thaysa Kamiji at Popovitch's place of business, an Oakland Park, Florida martial arts academy, and the home standoff with police that followed.

Releasing a lengthy statement via Facebook, Popovitch says his ex-wife actively engaged in text messaging Silva to provoke him into inciting some sort of revenge on her former husband.

Quote:

Everything was settled for us, we made an agreement, we decided to get our own places. I waited till she found an apartment for her to live with my boys, paid for moving, the move in costs for the rental. Gave her the money we had agreed on that I would give her every month. I was taking my boys every other weekend, and seeing them twice a week. Everything was perfect. Then she started contacting Thiago Silva, sending him pictures and creating a bigger fire than it was on how long I have actually been with Thaisa. I guess she needed revenge for us not working out. When she found out that I was seeing Thaisa, she started calling my little sister, me and my brother-in -law, freaked out that she knew Thaisa's ex-husband was crazy, and telling us to be careful. That if he found out, he would go insane. Later we found out, after he was arrested, that when the detective got ahold of his phone, it was Fabianna provoking everything. She would text me that she was scared of this guy, and right after text him egging him on to get pissed and come after me. I have evidence that the day Thiago Silva came to my gym, and threatened us. She sent a message to both my sister and brother in law scared for her life our families life because Thiago had threatened her and the family. The same day, at night he came to my gym with a gun, screaming out my name, and threating everyone at the school. Funny enough, last week, the mother of my kids, goes to court to defend this monster, that could have killed me, the father of her kids, or even her own kids, that were at the gym training jiu-jitsu just a few hours before. Why would she defend him, but yet try to scare the whole family that he could hurt anyone of us? What kind of games is she playing with this guy? What kind of mother is she? I don't know who this person Fabianna is anymore. She jeopardizes everything, me seeing my boys, my business, our peace of spirit for her revenge. The crazy part is, I couldn't understand why this guy came to my gym, he has a girlfriend, has another girl in Brazil pregnant of 5 months, why the hate towards someone he is clearly not with anymore for some time? It's all clear now, Fabianna drove him so much over the edge, exaggerating how long I have really been with Thaisa, and everything else she did to persuade him to come to the gym with a gun.

Although Silva was initially charged with two counts of attempted felony murder, the court determined there was insufficient probable cause to levy the murder charges. Silva was ultimately charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of resisting an officer without violence. While he was initially denied bail after being deemed a flight risk, Silva was released from Broward County Jail Mar. 7 on $25,000 bond.